PREMIERE: Strascha releases new single “Hack”

Hailing from Sofia in Bulgaria, Strascha is an alternative pop artist whose music begins in the places most people would rather escape. Over the last year, she’s built her creative identity around frustration, fear and difficult emotions, transforming them into colourful, energetic music with a playful edge. Even her name carries that philosophy, pronounced ‘stra-sha,’ it comes from the Bulgarian word ‘strah,’ meaning fear. By not treating fear as something to avoid, Strascha has made it part of her artistic vocabulary.

Her musical journey began in a living room, making beats during a period of depression, sadness and spite. From there came a creative ethos built around the belief that every emotion has value if you’re willing to confront it; fear, anger, jealousy and shame can become fuel rather than obstacles, transformed into music, art, humour, beauty and optimism. Strascha’s process is about making sense of herself by experiencing everything honestly, including the contradictory and uncomfortable parts.

That openness has resulted a sound that flows across pop, R&B, hip hop, soul, hyperpop and jazz, while charismatic personality and a playful sense of humour prevent those influences from becoming predictable. Her ambition is to explore almost every genre imaginable but the constant thread is a knack for turning emotional intensity into something expressive and infectious. She first unveiled her sound last summer with her debut single “insomnia,” followed by a string of well-received releases. Now “Hack” takes the project into a particularly chaotic sphere, delivering a high-energy collision of industrial pop, alternative pop and pop rock with an unapologetic attitude.

Drawing inspiration from Ashnikko, Cobrah, Addison Rae, Charli xcx, Poppy and Grimes, Strascha continues to embrace the more turbulent side of being human without allowing darkness to dictate the mood. The story behind “Hack” makes that context especially clear, with the song arising during a songwriting camp at Sound Ninja Collective in Sofia while Strascha was dealing with the end of an important friendship and attempting to balance what felt like thousands of other responsibilities. Sad, angry and overwhelmed, she nearly cancelled the session altogether.

On the tram to the studio, she was actively considering turning around but instead she showed up and that decision became the beginning of “Hack.” Strascha arrived with a clear idea of the sound she wanted, while producer Isaak Enchev quickly translated that vision into production. Guitarist Alexander Hristov, whom Strascha met for the first time during the session, added the climactic guitar solo in a single take.

Then came an unexpected final ingredient when renowned Bulgarian mix engineer Dimitar Ganchev happened to pass through Sound Ninja that day and, after hearing the track, suggested adding more noise to the low end through the cymbals. Given the already considerable volume of the song, the idea initially seemed unusual, but the addition immediately transformed the mix and supplied the final sense of sonic impact.

“Hack” is a particularly important release for Strascha, it was her favourite song from the moment she wrote it and it’s remained among her all-time favourites. More importantly, it distils the philosophy behind the project itself, to take whatever is happening internally and make something from it. “Hack” takes the emotional chaos of a difficult period and turns it into something loud, energetic and truly engrossing.

Listen to the premiere of Hack below

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